Some 15,000 nurses and healthcare assistants expect to be made redundant in the next year â while cuts are damaging patient care.

Five per cent of staff questioned for a survey said they thought they would lose their jobs.

Many NHS staff are worries about losing their jobs (Picture: PA)

A further six per cent expect reduced hours and seven per cent think they will be âdownbandedâ â when a role is re-assessed as being of a lower grade.

The findings come from a Royal College of Nursing poll of 8,000 NHS staff, mostly nurses and healthcare assistants.

More than half of the nurses said they were now too busy to provide the level of care they would like.

RCN chief executive Dr Peter Carter said: âWe know the government wants to protect services but nurses are wilting under longer working hours, taking on the burden on unfilled vacancies and reduced staffing levels.â

The RCN says 40,000 NHS jobs are flagged to be lost.

A Department of Health spokesman replied: âWe donât agree with this estimate. Our modernisation plans will cut the costs of administration by one-third over this parliament; every penny will be reinvested into frontline services.â